Coined in Japan in the late '90s, "Moe" (萌え, pronounced as "Mo-Eh", derived from a Japanese word that means "budding, to sprout/bloom")note 燃え, also pronounced "moe", is a different word meaning "to burn". This is a source of puns. is an ill-defined otaku term that means, amongst other things, "cute", "huggable", or "endearing". While it's sometimes used to describe a series or the phenomenon called Perverse Sexual Lust, it's more about a specific ideal or kind of character, similar to Kawaisa. When used as an interjection, figuratively, it's used to convey that "something blooms inside your heart".

A common definition is that Moe is the ability of a character to instill in the audience an irrational desire to adore them, hug them, protect them, comfort them, etc. To evoke a sort of Big Brother Instinct, in men and women.

Their personality will reflect an "innocent" outlook on something vital, such as about romance. A related implication is that moe characters are virgins, though mostly in Japan, where virginity and purity still remains important to a girl's appeal.

If a character is plain, they are "loudly plain" in the way Hollywood Homely characters are "ugly"; sometimes they're just more moderate than the rest of the cast, and the writers implicitly suggest the audience is kind for liking the character for being plain.

More on these traits can be found here, although trying to define the exact nature of "what is Moe" is still up to debate.

Such characters are also prone to being used as mere Pandering to the Base. When a character has no visible personality traits aside from vaguely cute uselessness, he/she is termed the dreaded "Moe Blob". An interesting result of this is some moe characters are quasi-Animated Actors; the series they star in need not be related at all, being only devices to enable the viewer to enjoy the character. Many of them feature in Gag Series, and only the merchandise for the series shows off its intended and occasionally creepy roots.

Also, do note that the Moe aesthetic in itself is generally not considered to be a sexual thing. Saying otherwise will hit the Fandom Berserk Button. That is not to say, of course, that Moe characters can never be sexually attractive, and indeed someaesthetics may deliberately blur the line, with varying amounts of creepiness.

Male characters can also have moe traits, and they figure prominently in Shoujo and Josei. Like their female counterparts, moe boys are usually ridiculously cute. The Adorably Precocious Child is a good example. Bishōnen characters (particularly Troubled, but Cute characters) also tend to evoke feelings of Moe in a female audience and are frequently called Moe by both fans and authors.

The original version of Marrina from Alpha Flight was absolutely made of this, at least as long as she was in control of herself. Unfortunately, outside forces kept pulling out her Super-Powered Evil Side, making her good half seem just that much more tragic and, well, moe.

From Gensokyo 20XX,you have to admit Kid Youmu is adorable and there isn't much not love about her being a Cuddlebug and her only being able to say "Muh". The image of her almost speaks for itself

Film - Animation

Vanellope von Schweetz in Wreck-It Ralph is the most adorable character in the movie and also the most abused, whose living conditions were even worse than Ralph's. She is essentially a Dummied Out character in her home game, which is horrifyingly tragic if such a character were sentient. Some of the story team members even grew protective of her.

Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings. More so than the book, in which he seems slightly more composed and more mature than his younger Hobbit friends, film Frodo is every bit the doe-eyed, plucky little-train-that-could. Whenever action goes down, even the other Hobbits manage to get some licks in. But not our Frodo, who whimpers and faints and plays the IllBoy throughout. He's so in over his head it's absurd... which is what makes his pluck all the more moving. It's just a damn good job Sam went with him...

David Bowie's character from The Man Who Fell to Earth is a fragile, if stoic, alien who proves highly, tragically vulnerable to the pitfalls of the human world. In his human disguise, he's one of the older examples of this trope (his true form is that of a Rubber Forehead Alien). It's telling that Bowie fangirls usually refer to Thomas Jerome Newton via his in-story nickname of "Tommy".

Chekov, from the 2009 Star Trek movie. He's developed quite the female following.

He's practically a live-action anime character with his enormous greenish-blue eyes; no wonder he's a Moe! That and his positively adorable accent (especially when the computer acts like a bitch to him).

"I can do zat! I can do zat!"

Little Nancy in Sin City the movie. She is a lot cuter when seen in full color light in the bonus DVD features than in the black and white of the movie.

Both used straight and subverted when Wednesday Addams turns on the charm at summer camp in Addams Family Values. In just a few moments she blossoms from her usual drawn and dour self into a charming doe eyed lovable little girl.

The other children are visibly shocked. One remarks "she's scaring me!"

Child!Hanuman/Maruti from The Return of Hanuman. Big girly eyes, cheeks, innocence, he's just so adorable.

Bumblebee fills this, despite being a mechanical life form. Due to being the most humanoid of the robot cast, his movements moddelled after Marty Mcfly, the fact his horns are replaced with little bug antenas, he's given Prowl's door wings which act like dog ears, and his childlike enthusiasm at times. There's a reason many cried when he was injured in the first film and when it looks like he's about to be executed by Soundwave in the third. Possibly lampshading this, Laserbeak uses his aparent ability to change into anything to become a human child sized pink version of him to trick a small girl into letting him inside so he can kill her family.

Carly in the third film also acts as this, due to being more emotional than Megan Fox's character Mikeala in the first film and more playful.

Chucky from Child's Play. Yes, he is a psychotic mass murderer, but he just looks so adorable in his doll body.

Ringo Starr guessed that his fanbase in the 60s consisted mainly of girls who wanted to mother him. He was absolutely right.

In-universe example. In the Bon Jovi song, "Superman Tonight," Jon sings about a girl he wants to rescue...THAT HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW.

Sally Shapiro

Jazz vocalist and pianist Blossom Dearie had this as a big part of her appeal, often described as having a girlish appearance and an innocent "baby-doll" voice. Case in point: her famous cover of "Someone To Watch Over Me." (Is a more Moe name than "Blossom Dearie" even possible?)

Something about you makes people pity you and want to take care of you. You get + 3 on all reaction rolls from those who consider you to be in a position of helplessness, weakness, or need (which never includes those with the Callous disadvantage). Taken in conjunction with above-average looks, Pitiable means you are "cute" instead of "sexy"; in combination with below-average looks, it means you are "appealingly homely," like a basset hound.

The Collectible Card Game Weiss Schwarz uses moe as its primary selling point, allowing moe stalwarts such as the Lucky Star and Clannad casts to wage bloody moe battle against each other.

Shiki from Tsukihime tends to have a love of moe traits among the girls in the games. The doujins take this to whole new levels, creating his infamous line "So moe...I'm gonna die~!"

The female cast of the game are all quite moe; some just more than others.

Akiha, Arcueid, Hisui, Satsuki, and Len; arguably the most moe characters out of the lot.

The girls of Katawa Shoujo, who are all Disabled Love Interests who each have some moe traits, but Shrinking Violet Hanako probably takes the cake. However, it's worth noting that despite fandom's treatment of Hanako as moe, her route in the game actually deconstructs the concept. Hanako becomes well aware that Hisao feels sorry for her and sees her as The Woobie, and she greatly resents it. In her Bad End, she calls Hisao out on this, yelling that she hates him for this behaviour. With the way she's facing the screen, however, it doesn't seem that she's yelling at Hisao so much as she's yelling atthe player. In her H-scene, the reason she has sex with Hisao in the first place is so that he'll stop seeing her as someone to be pitied and protected.

Really, any of your female companions fall into this in some way. Maya with her childish naivete, Pearl's innocent ignorance of the world outside Kurain Village (and just being the one little girl in general), and Trucy Wright just all around. Even Kay Faraday, Genki Girl as she is, gets in on it sometimes with her charming ambition. It helps that all these characters have Woobie backgrounds.

The elves of ElfQuest are deliberately Moe, particularly Suntop (later renamed Sunstream in-universe) who is practically the Ur Example. Around age 5 or 6, he had to endure being kidnapped by Winnowill, the only truly evil elf known and magically hurt in order to keep him from struggling. Then as a 7yo (guesstimated), he had to endure 2-3 days of sleeplessness because of constantly "hearing" telepathic screaming of other elves from some unknown place. If it weren't for sympathetic parents and an understanding mentor, he could have literally turned out an insanely evil being instead of godlike good.

Speaking of Kimiko...Masha Kinoko. Using the power of moe, she single-handedly melted any objection towards the introductions of original characters in the series and was considered too adorable to become the final boss of the series, which was her intended role in the story at the time of her introduction.

(Touhou Nekoyayou #50: A Maid's Work)

Tewi Inonymous: The unforgivable sin of fan works is original characters. DUH!

You know what? Skip individual descriptions, all the kids, and ALL the trolls can count as Moe at one point, for a ludicrous plethora of reasons. Which makes the three trolls who are now hated and feared an especially interesting character study...

Cuanta Vida has Anton, the panicky Mega Nekko medic. The CV fandom is usually ridiculously protective of the two main characters, so it really says something that Anton was immediately forgiven for working with Rojo to kidnap Bleu.

Drowtales has Faen'arae Val'Sullisin'rune. While she may be older than the typical Moe character, she has the advantage of actually being a Drow whose age-equivalent in Human Terms would only be in the late Teens, Early Tweenties. This character has the drawback of being able to feel the emotions of others and frequently will go into what is termed "Empathic Shock" due to highly stressful emotions. She also suffers from severe PTSD. All that said, she is also one of the most endearing characters in the series.

Oh and Kyo'nne Val'Illhar'dro may also count... depending on whom you ask. Not to mention Naal'suul Val'Beldrobbaen would have counted Prior to being turned into a Demon.

The Nostalgia Critic. Those huge, pretty eyes, his actor's gleeful catering to the fangirls and the fact that he looks like a kid playing grown-up (andtendstosuckatit) in that messy suit adds a lot to his appeal.

Oancitizen, from Brows Held High; chubby face, fluffy facial hair, lovably snobby, cries almost as much as the Critic and has a soothing, Stephen Fry-esque voice.

Donnie DuPre from Demo Reel goes straight to the bedroom eyes to convince his co-workers to do anything, manages to be a complete Dude Magnet, is weak, femmy and very rarely raises his voice, has a horrible past (and present!) and nobody can resist looking after him.

Rebecca Stone. Her actress was delighted that Doug was the only guy to give her a Badass Adorable role, and while she's plenty ass-kicking feminist, she's also got an adorable giggle, has a stoner past and says whatever comes into her brain first.

while we're on this subject, San too who was in pretty much the same situation as Melissa but wasn't shy or withdrawn but so socially awkward that most people avoided her.

Lily Pichu, a Gamer Chick that hosts her own channel doing escapades playing League of Legends and occasionally accompanies them with cute non-professional drawing in moe style. Just listen to her voice and try not to have a HNNNNNGGG. Of course, sometimes she subverts it that she also a bit foul-mouthed, letting out Precision F-Strike time to time, but it's also worth noting that she admits that the Moe voice is totally original and not made-up. She's also pretty personable and can be hilarious when she wants to.

Western Animation

Betty Boop may well have been the original progenitor of the animated Moe character. The target audience of her cartoons was adult men rather than children, and she made popular the large eyes and other child-like facial features that are common on a lot of modern Moes. Also, she was voiced by Mae Questel, who at the time was very popular due to her cutesy voice.

Adorably ditzy Magical Girl Hay Lin, from W.I.T.C.H., IS this trope. Aside from Rei, one struggles to find a character who fits it so perfectly. If she's not being suggestive and adorable, she's being even more adorable and frightened, she's a slender little thing with a nice chest when she transforms but Pettanko leanings when a normal person. All she needs is blue hair and some bandages and she could be Rei's (much more chipper) sister.

Zuko sometimes has Moe traits too. Especially during the episode "The Western Air Temple" where he tries to join Team Avatar and it doesn't go so well at first, resulting in him yelling, "Why am I so bad at being good!" There's also the fact that his temper stems more from him being the Woobie than him being a jerkass for the most part, and he can be very socially awkward.

Opal from The Legend of Korra with her big eyes, sweet demeanor, and awkward first impression toward Team Avatar (especially Bolin) makes her absolutely adorable.

Futurama. Come on...if you were Leela, you know you'd date Fry in a second. None of that pussyfooting around. It's all his heart, and the fact that he is so very, very, very lonely, being the oldest human in the world by a very long shot. Plus, he's nice to people who don't give a rat's ass about him, for no good reason at all. What's there not to like? Intelligence? Overrated!

Or how about Leela herself? How can you not hear orphanage stories and not want to give her a hug? One eye or two, who cares?

What about Kif? With the big head, large eyes, small nose, girlish voice and the borderline Woobieness, he's downright adorable!

Shego from Kim Possible turns Moe when she gets hit by an attitude ray, which changes her personality to the opposite of her current one. That lady on the Dark Action Girl page? That's her.Seriously◊.

Ron has his moments.

Toki of Metalocalypse is the closest thing to Moe you can get in that series. He's so childlike, endearing, and you just can't help but want to hug him because he's probably the most sentimental of the group. And then there's his little song "Underwater Friends." However, he's also a good example of Beware the Nice Ones...

From the second generation cast, Dawn and Zoey. The former is a Luna LovegoodExpy, is the shortest girl in the season, has big, doe eyes, and a cute, squeaky voice. The latter is a cute redhead that has an endearing personality and a Friendless Background that would make anyone want to give her a hug.

Hugely subverted in "The Best Night Ever" when she goes completely Cute and Psycho when the animals in the garden of the palace run away from her. Although, she was under a lot of stress at the time however, given that all she wanted to do was be friends with the animals and they just kept running away from her.

Most characters from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The entire show might be the best example of the "moe" concept catching on in western fandom. Many of the Ponies can fall under different moe tropes, such as:

Rainbow Dash being a Boku-girl

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle being little girls.

Sweetie Belle gets the added bonus of being a Cute Clumsy Girl with an amazing singing voice and adorable voice cracks.

Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy being animals.

Particularly invoked is the episode "Green Isn't Your Color," where Fluttershy becomes a supermodel entirely due to her Moe appeal, complete with Enforced Method Acting so she always looks scared in her pictures.

The main six when they were in kindergarten were just adorable as well

Miss Grotke is a rare over 18 example of the trope. Personality speaking, she's like a misplaced Disney Princess. Sadly, a lot of her moe-ness is taken out of most dubs, where her cute, high-pitched voice is usually replaced with a lower, more boring one.

T.J. can be pretty moe sometimes. Most of the Japanese fans consider him to be very moe.

Wilykit and Wilykat from ThunderCats (2011). They have the cuteness of precocious little children plus that of kittens.

Not sure if this would go under Animation or a new Art category, but part-time Disney artist Mary Blair (background designer for Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and [[Disney/Cinderella Cinderella]]'', as well as designer of It's a Small World) sure knew cuteness, and especially colors.

Entire series called moe

Notable Producers of Moe Series

The animation company M.O.E. is named after and produces many such shows; some have more fanservice than others.

Touhou actually averts this for the most part, since despite 98% of the cast being cute girls wearing some kind of frilly clothing very few of the characters really have any stereotypically moe personalities (and it's not like any of them need to be protected anyway). It's still pretty easy to think it's a moe series, though, since fans are very fond of emphasizing moe traits whether the characters in question have any or not. Some details in the guidebooks have actually subverted the moe treatment some characters got (i.e. Hina is not someone you want to spend time with because she leaks misfortune, Kisume is actually a Creepy Child, Nitori may or may not actually be racist against humans).

There's actually a whole VN genre for so-called "moege". Da Capo and its spinoffs, SHUFFLE!, Snow Sakura and Canvas 2 are just some that this particular niche has to offer.

Speaking of Da Capo, remeber the character Moe above in the anime section? In the VN there's more to her than meets the eye, and it has to do with her unusual sleeping habits, if that alone is not Moe enough. She takes sleeping pills. Not because of insomnia, but due to a tragic incident in her childhood - there was a boy she liked, then one day he died. Overcome with grief, she made a wish to the magical Sakura Tree to see that boy in her dreams. Hence her need to sleep. Thus when the tree withers, she loses that wish, and just breaks down. Awwww

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